May freewrite while traveling to the east coast!

Good day, Steemit! I’m mid-flight; Minneapolis to Philadelphia w/ @vermillionfox and @guthrie. As soon as we land, we’re splitting up. They’re going with @bonni back to Northeastern, PA. I’m taking a train to mid-town Manhattan. I have shoots right up until Tuesday evening. I haven’t been on the east coast since last summer, so there’s work in New York, family and friends to see in Pennsylvania, and I’m trying to distract myself from the turbulence, so this is a freewrite.

Where to begin? Cryptocurrency and blockchain seem to be moving in a positive direction. Bitcoin rallied but after a year and a half of consistent false starts, I think I’m traumatized in allowing myself to think a recovery is in sight. Rather, the indication that is giving me hope is the reaction to this weekend’s obvious attempt at market manipulation. Bitcoin falling by $1300 in two hours. As much as that sucks, it’s the resiliency of the market that shows promise that we could be entering a legitimate bull run.

When I left for the airport this morning, Bitcoin was at $8300. Almost as if nothing had happened a few days earlier. I guess there’s more Bitcoin ETF speculation, and honestly, none of that analysts talk is my strong suit, so I won’t pretend. It just feels like the time has come, to me at least. I’m encouraged to see positive movement on the STEEM blockchain. MIRA roll out, HiveMind active and I just read that Steemit is officially out of beta. That $1 STEEM doesn’t seem so far off. Let’s hope that’s just the beginning.

Career talk, for the last 18 months, I’ve been talking about how I’m over traveling. @anomadsoul, @eveuncovered, @travelgirl, @waybeyondpadthai, @ramengirl and @world-travel-pro are all great accounts to follow is you love reading about bloggers in a new city every week, loving every minute of it. My blog is a great one to read if you prefer cranky ramblings about airports and terrified attempts at coping while on turbulent flights. I’m not living my “best life”. I’m living someone else’s best life.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for my job and I don’t regret my career choice. I do believe I’m doing what I’m meant to do, and that’s saying a lot for a guy born and raised in blue color, working class Scranton, PA. At my 15 year class reunion, Brock Raspen [...I remember his name because he was the jock quarter-back I despised] approached me. He went on and on about my photography and career, admitting that he was still at the bowling alley I remember his managing when we graduated in 1998. Ouch!

That could have been my fate. I worked in a psychiatric hospital in Scranton. Nesbit Memorial. I worked on the Children’s unit. Nesbit had been repurposed from an old medical hospital. The unit I worked on as a Mental Health Technician used to be the delivery ward. I was born in this hospital, and if I hadn’t decided to move to Minneapolis in 2010, there’s a good chance I would have worked there for 47 years, had a stroke and died in the same room I was born in.

I’ll refrain from any more curmudgeondry, only to say that although I’m terrified of flying [...every time], I’ve just done too much of it. The romance is gone, as has been for years. Last year, I recall @anomadsoul finishing a freewrite from the back of a van. That’s the threshold of someone who loves to travel, versus someone who loves to vacation. Although, I get so see incredible places and meet lovely people, none of those trips are vacations. They’re tons of work and a lot of stress.

Alright. This was meant to be a rambling freewrite and that’s what it delivered. I have a few days of rough and tumble shoots in Brooklyn and Manhattan ahead of me. I’m hoping there will be time to see friends as well. From there, I’ll be meeting back up with @vermillionfox and @guthrie for @bonni’s graduation ceremony and then back to Minneapolis. Thanks for reading and supporting me. For more photography and travel, follow me here @kommienezuspadt!